After a time of rest, don’t be afraid to tell God anything that comes to mind. Lay down your burdens. Share your confusion. Tell him that you don’t know where else to turn. Acknowledge that you feel overwhelmed. Divulge your feelings of defeat. Your regrets about overeating may be numerous: I feel out of control ... I dislike what has happened to my body ... I’ve dulled my mind and robbed my energy ... I don’t trust myself anymore ... I’m sick and tired of my ways.
As you are opening yourself to God, you may find that painful feelings about other things will surface. It is well known that emotional pain causes us to be more vulnerable to the temptation of overeating. We try to soothe the inner pain with the balm of food. Name your feelings as best you can. Confess, or acknowledge, that you feel afraid, angry, worried, guilty, ashamed, bitter, or jealous.
Feel free to confess anything you feel bad about. Acknowledge your mistakes, errors of judgment, inattention, insensitivity, and anything else you might regret. Don’t prejudge your confessions by reserving confession only for blatant acts of selfishness or resistance to God. Slowly unwind the tightened knot of false security. Release your grip on what troubles you. Release your painful feelings to God. Release your fears and failures into God’s care. Empty out so there is room for God’s healing love to come in.
Confession calms when we’re full of conflict and defeat. It actually feels good to confess when we’re lacking the desire to move forward, when we feel powerless, and when we’re confused. Confession has a restful quality. In confession, we let down our guard of self-defense. Just be honest. You no longer have to put up a front. You’re simply stating what is, without explanation or embellishment. It is an honest statement of what you know down deep. It’s what you can see when all pretenses are gone.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
Psalm 25:16–18
